Here’s to another year of the AMA DFW Marketing of the Year Awards. Along with the winners we congratulate Ivonne Kinser, VP of Marketing & Innovation at Avocados From Mexico, as the first Latino recipient of the Marketing Lifetime Achievement Award. Kudos also to Spire Agency for Overall Marketer of the Year and David Frederick, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas for CMO of the Year.
Check them all out.
Winners
Industry Award Winners
Collegiate Marketer of the Year
Overall Marketer of the Year
CMO of the Year
Lifetime Achievement Award
We have come to know 2020 as the year of the COVID-19 where we have socially distanced ourselves from each other and the activities we love. This “seclusion” has birthed a miraculous innovative mindset in us humans to figure out how we can actually connect safely. Quite frankly, our communities, the economy; we all depend on it.
This dynamic shift has also clearly impacted the world of marketing and driven a burst of creative interaction and engagement. So in the spirit of community and learning from each other, we’re presenting insights from some of the leading marketing minds across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex representing a range of industries.
But this is just the start of the conversation. We welcome all perspectives and a healthy debate, so please jump in with comments and share what’s top of mind for you in the coming year.
Authentic communications pave the way for a more diverse, equal and inclusive future
“Brands will need to spend a lot more time, energy and resources in Strategic Communications. Being authentic, intentional, impactful and adaptable are needed during these challenging times. Between a global pandemic, racial inequality, social injustice, political unrest and a suffering economy, organizations will need to plan and navigate a crisis through public relations, communications, marketing and strategic storytelling.” – David Frederick, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas
“We have the power to drive the change for equity. The language of marketing should bear in mind the diversity and inclusion of ourselves and the communities served. It should be just and reach far beyond what is sold or the level of service offered. It must be the foundation of who we are as well as the force behind the drive to execute on it.” Angela Neal, President & CEO, Just The Heart, LLC
AI is on the rise, but not without a human touch
“Artificial intelligence is here to stay and will become even more powerful in 2021. But wise marketers will balance the benefits of AI with real human interaction to ensure customers continue to connect with brands in a meaningful way.” – Patty Arellano-Tolotta, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Dallas College
“I see enabling technologies as AI will significantly help ABM. Whether built in-house or forging partnership, AI needs to be integrated at every layer of our touch with the target account to be successful. But the value must exist alongside good old-fashioned human knowledge, experience, and intuition. No amount of technological ingenuity can replace that. Human-centric society is whom we deal with and will continue to do so — being empathetic is important!” – Anamika Gupta, Director, Head of Customer Marketing, Fujitsu Americas
“As AI continues to infiltrate many industries, it will spill over into content. Tools such as Contentyze are helping marketers who don’t have the time to write push out content quickly. The one challenge with this is the changing algorithms within SEO. Some trends never change and SEO is one of them. With Google issuing algorithm updates several times in 2020, it is likely that AI can cause the content world to be crowded but SEO will still be one of the key determining factors when it comes to ranking.” – Danni White, Director of Content Strategy and Development, Bython
Sharper data-driven digital strategies put a bullseye on moving targets
“Grouping target audiences the way we do today will not satisfy the unique needs of the individuals within these groups in the future – a result of increased mobility and the new remote work environment. For B2B and B2C marketers alike, buyer behavior is changing and each buyer is growing more unique and independent in their decisions, making intent and behavior data, programmatic media, and digital retargeting critical tools in our 2021 marketing tool bag.” – Ryan O’Neil, Head of Global Paid Media & Nurture Marketing, Citrix
“For 2021, the focus area for me will be optimizing my data-driven targeting strategy. There are so many great tools available, whether it be intent, technographics, or website traffic deanonymization. The difficulty is how to make them work together in chorus. Once that is accomplished, you can reach the right prospects, with the right ad or content, at the right time.” – Jonathan Rosenfeld, Senior Demand Generation Manager, Twilio Inc.
“What COVID has brought to light is the acceleration for businesses to invest in digital marketing. However, in order to ensure that business leaders are maximizing their ROI on digital ad spend, marketing data analytics is now more critical than ever. It transcends simple data analysis on marketing campaigns to gleaning the data insights required to help shape and drive future digital marketing strategies for years to come.” – Trinidad Aguirre, MBA, Founder, TEAM Marketing LLC
“Experience” takes on new meaning & dimensions
“Marketers will experience companies shifting much focus on growing their 20% of key strategic existing accounts bringing 80% of their business and supporting large opportunities. ABM is here to stay and, if done right, will continue to help the business get a seat at the table as a top-tier player by becoming more relevant and customer-led in the journey of building trust. Delivering a truly enhanced customer experience will be a continued priority for both sales and marketing. We must continue to strengthen this partnership with one common goal of client growth and success. – Anamika Gupta, Director, Head of Customer Marketing, Fujitsu Americas
“Like many nonprofits we raise funds and build relationships through events and meetings. While many nonprofits have pivoted to virtual events in 2020, there has definitely been a loss of human connection. In a post-pandemic world it will be more important than ever to re-establish those in-person connections and we will be looking for new ways to increase experiences with our work, whether safely in-person, virtually or a hybrid of both.” – Sarah Burns, Chief Marketing Officer, Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center
“As we emerge from the COVID winter we will begin to see a renewed push toward the creation of rich, intimate brand experiences that connect brand users and communities in the physical world. The brands that are able to create shared authentic, meaningful experiences that satiate the consumer’s thirst for real physical community will strengthen existing relationships and bring new users to the brand.” – Warren White, SVP, Chief Marketing Officer, Adeptus Health
“The pandemic has forced many companies to accelerate their digital transformation to not only improve internal processes and communications with employees, but also to market and sell their products and services online. To provide a good user experience along the path-to-purchase customer journey, investment in user experience (UX) research will be required. Insights and results from UX research will not only be applied to make product development really customer-centric, but also to enhance the user experience before, during and after the moment of purchase for different customer segments.” – Michaela Mora, President, Relevant Insights, LLC
Content consumers raise the stakes for brands swimming in a sea of sameness
“The pandemic has clearly shaken up the marketing mix and put greater emphasis on content as a route to driving leads lost on the physical events front — particularly for B2B companies. As a result, everyone’s been rushing to create, which in turn has flooded the marketplace and left readers fatigued. To stand out in 2021, brands will need to find fresh ways to demand attention with snackable, high-impact content. Personalized and emotional storytelling will remain critical while experimentation with more immersive video (captured in COVID-friendly ways), gamified virtual presentations, interactive VR/AR applications, community-generated and AI voice search-optimized content will rise to the top.” – Melissa Chadwick, Vice President of Content, Merritt Group
“How users interact with content is equally as important as what the content is and who it is targeting. Whether it is interactive content such as polls and assessments or redesigning a page or platform with better UX, marketers will look to create a better content experience for their users and audience. Driving ROI whether it is monetization or lead generation means users have to stay on sites more and be engaged enough to go through a sales funnel.” – Danni White, Director of Content Strategy and Development, Bython
Modern web development requires accessible technologies
“The era of installed open source applications like WordPress is eclipsing, as modern web development makes its way to the front of the line with decoupled services. These would include headless CMS (meaning theme agnostic), and serverless web applications that run using microservices. What makes one experience better than another is how fast, secure, and dev friendly the solutions are for companies that want to optimize their web presence. Ultimately, the goal is to rid themselves of costly third party services including server technology and antiquated IT infrastructures.” – Nick Bonanno, Cofounder and Owner of Simple Media LLC
Marketers tap third parties to help build credibility & trust
“Marketers (especially in B2B) will have to find ways to shorten their sales cycles and increase focus on quality lead generation. With physical movement still fairly restricted in 2021 plus “Zoom overwhelm,” they will have to get creative. To accomplish this, marketers will need to focus on earned media more than ever before to increase credibility and close sales. As that happens, they will start to look at B2B influencer marketing, as well as branded storytelling (digital PR) as key gateways to connecting with their audience via already established and trusted sources.”- Stephanie Chavez, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Zen Media
The DFW chapter of The American Marketing Association has a majestic event planned on September 23rd, 2020 to recognize top marketers in the DFW area.
You’re invited to join this virtual event as we crown the award winners across 20+ Marketer of the Year categories. Then, from amongst this group, we will bestow the ultimate glory and name the 2020 Marketer Of The Year!
During this action packed 60 minute livestream event we will also announce the Collegiate Marketer of the Year and CMO of the Year.
We are thrilled to be honoring our Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Charlotte Jones, EVP and Chief Brand Officer of the Dallas Cowboys.
Guiding us through the evening will be our Emcee, Tom Dennis. Tom is a familiar face around town in the marketing world as he is the President Emeritus of AMA DFW.
ExperiPro is pleased to announce that Tom Dennis, vice president of brand for ExperiPro, has accepted a second term as president of the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA), effective immediately. 
Tom previously served as president of the AMA’s local chapter in 2010-2011 and helped transform the organization into one of the top chapters in the country. In recognition of his efforts, Tom received the 2012 American Marketing Association “National Volunteer of the Year Award.”
“This is another pivotal year for our local chapter of the AMA,” said Tom. “Our national organization has announced a new brand platform and set of strategic priorities, so it is an exciting time to help lead our chapter’s growth and transformation. I am excited to have the opportunity to build and lead the team that will roll out the ‘Next AMA’ in our market.”
In 2015, the American Marketing Association launched a transformational leadership strategy to become the definitive force and voice shaping marketing best and next practices worldwide. The AMA recently unveiled a new brand identity and the first ever intellectual agenda, the “seven big problems” confronting marketing. The seven big problems will drive content for the entire AMA community: a multi-faceted and diverse group of professionals in marketing and sales, academic researchers and educators, and collegiate marketing hopefuls.
The AMA’s brand launch also kicked-off an exclusive partnership with Equals 3, founders and developers of a cognitive intelligence tool named Lucy. Lucy taps the artificial intelligence computing power of Watson to address common challenges across research, segmentation and media planning soon to be an added members-only benefit nationwide.
“As the VP of brand strategy at ExperiPro, Tom is the ideal choice for localizing AMA’s new vision here in DFW,” said David Slatter, president of ExperiPro. “To be asked to lead the chapter through another time of significant change is a testament to Tom’s credibility as a leader, as well as his commitment to enhancing the value of the marketing profession.” “Some experts say the difference between management and leadership is love. Nobody loves the mission of the AMA to deliver world-class service, knowledge, and community to the DFW marketing community more than Tom. I’ve had the pleasure to spend time with Tom and marketers could not have a better ambassador,” stated Russ Klein, CEO of the AMA.
Tom will serve as president of the local AMA chapter until the end of the current fiscal year in June 2017.
About ExperiPro
ExperiPro is an insights-driven marketing and brand strategy firm. Our passion is to help our clients become their customers’ first choice. We create strategies and go-to-market plans designed to improve customer engagement, increase revenue and drive growth.
